Braves Claim Mitchell Parker

The Braves announced that they have claimed left-hander Mitchell Parker off waivers from the Nationals.

Parker, 27, was a fifth-round pick by the Nats in 2020. He had a solid big league debut in 2024, making 29 starts and pitching 151 innings with a 4.29 ERA, a 20.6% strikeout rate and a 6.7% walk rate. He sat 92-93 mph that season, didn’t miss many bats and gave up a fair bit of loud contact in the air, but it was a solid enough season that gave him the look of an optionable fourth or fifth starter for Washington for the next few years.

The 2025 follow-up to that rookie effort was a disaster, however. Parker set a new career-high with 164 2/3 innings pitched, but his ERA skyrocketed to 5.68 while his strikeout and walk rates swung wildly in the wrong direction (14.2 K%, 8.0 BB%). Parker’s glut of fly-balls came back to bite him, too, as he was rocked for 25 round-trippers.

In 2026, Parker worked out of the bullpen with even shakier results: 34 2/3 innings and a 6.58 ERA. His strikeout and walk rates inched back in the right direction but were still worse than average. The lefty’s velocity ticked up to an average of 93.6 mph while working in relief, but that was at best a nominal silver lining.

The season got even worse for Parker when he hit the injured list in late June. The injury was originally designated as merely inflammation in his elbow, but manager Blake Butera informed reporters the following day that imaging revealed a Grade 3 tear of Parker’s left ulnar collateral ligament. He underwent an internal brace procedure a few weeks later and is likely to miss at least half of the 2027 campaign, if not more.

Parker finished the season with 2.167 years of big league service, which set him up as a Super Two player. He’s arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter and is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to receive a $1.1MM salary. He’d be controllable for four years if Atlanta hangs onto him, but it’s possible they’ll non-tender him in a couple weeks if they can’t work out a deal.